Who is ippo makunouchi

The referee then saw Ponchai unable to continue and ended the match, with Ippo winning his come back match. Ippo was then interviewed by the ring interviewer. Ippo replied, accepting the rematch. Ippo then walked away from the ring, feeling thrilled to walk down from the ring after winning.

Takamura visited Ippo, where he found an album called "memories" which contained pictures of him during his school days. Takamura noticed a girl who he thought was cute, Ippo remembered her as the first girl willing to talk to him in school. He then found old dried leaves which were the ten leaves Ippo caught in order to become a boxer.

The leaves then crumbled, making Ippo angry. Ippo and Takamura leave and go to Aoki's house. When Takamura found an album in Aoki's house and found an image of Aoki and Kimura in their delinquent days, Ippo was curious about their past. Ippo, Takamura, and Aoki then go to Kimura's house where they were informed by his mother that he has a fever.

When they entered Kimura's room, Ippo saw an Arowana , which Kimura deemed his pride and joy. When Ippo fed the fish , it fainted, not realising it was Kimura's aspirin. This made Kimura angry and hit Aoki, wondering why he came.

Ippo then pointed out that Aoki and Kimura looked like they got along well in their delinquent photos, wanting to know details about their past. Aoki and Kimura then told Ippo their past as delinquents up to when they won their debut matches. After telling Ippo their story, Takamura teased the two by offering them to hit him, causing Aoki and Kimura to retaliate and hit Ippo for starting it until Ippo pointed out that the fish was up and moving.

Ippo was then visited by Kamogawa, who asked for Ippo's reaction to the match. Kamogawa simply instructed him to rest his body for the fight and to not think about it. After Date won the match Ippo met with Date and congratulated him. Later, Ippo and the other boxers got ready to go to the training camp at the beach before Kamogawa explained that they would be going to the mountains where a friend of his was letting him use his pension, much to the boxers besides Ippo annoyance.

Ippo and everyone else at the Kamogawa gym arrived at the Pension Yoshio and was greeted by Kamogawa's friend and rival Ginpachi Nekota , with Nekota recognising Ippo from sports magazines and videos. Kamogawa then had Ippo run with Aoki, Kimura, and Shinoda. Before they left, Nekota warned them of bears.

While running in the woods and acknowledging the strengths of the roadwork, Ippo noticed a bear behind him, making him run faster back to the house as he warned the rest of the group. When he returned, Nekota offered something to keep the bears away, leaving the group relieved. Unable to sleep, Ippo went outside and reflected about the Dempsey Roll's completed form.

The next day, Ippo received a bell to keep bears away and ran with Aoki, Kimura, and Takamura in the woods. Just as the runners began deciding that the bells were working, Ippo was jumped on by an animal. When Aoki and Kimura ran in fear back to inform the others that Ippo was attacked by a bear, Ippo came back with a white dog, which Nekota revealed that it was his dog, Hachi.

Kamogawa explained what everyone would be doing for their stay for the week, with Kamogawa instructing Ippo to chop logs with an axe. As Ippo did his training, Nekota visited him. Ippo requested his help on how to chop wood properly. Ippo watched in awe as Nekota chopped wood perfectly. Realising that Ippo was training to increase his power, Nekota warned Ippo that power-to-power battles have devastating lasting effects, breaking boxers down by becoming Punch Drunk , telling him how he himself retired because of brain damage and still has effects.

Ippo then became curious when Nekota mentioned of a way of punching without punching. After finishing his log training, Ippo went inside the house where Kamogawa began explaining the " Sakki " and how Nekota used it on him while they were boxers. With Ippo not figuring out the difference between Sakki and a regular feint, Takamura decided to show Ippo the difference by sparring with him.

Outside, Ippo and Takamura began to spar in order for Ippo to see the Sakki. When the spar began, Ippo tested a regular feint on Takamura before landing a full-force blow on him accidentally. Ippo then dodged Takamura's full swings until Ippo became confused when he saw a punch coming, but it never came, realising that that was the Sakki. Seeing as Ippo had figured out the Sakki, Takamura stopped the spar.

On the final day of the training camp, tirelessly did mitt training with Kamogawa and then went back to chopping wood after. Ippo was visited by Nekota, who understood how Ippo felt fighting a man more than once. Ippo asked him how a rematch felt like, which he then learned to look at his opponent's eyes to know their state. As night came, Takamura had not returned from his roadwork.

Beginning to worry about Takamura running into a bear, Ippo wondered if he could defeat one. When an injured Takamura returned and claimed to have knocked a bear out, Ippo wrapped up Takamura's wounds with bandages. Nekota then brought a bear nabe out for everyone to eat. When Nekota told a story of how he killed the bear that was in the bear nabe, Takamura began crying when the bear he knocked out and let live was turned into the bear nabe, making Ippo realise the story was true.

The next morning, when it was time for the Kamogawa gym to head back to Tokyo, Ippo thanked Nekota for everything and gave him his farewell. Once at the gym, a coach requested to Kamogawa for his boxer, the fourth ranker in the JBC rankings, Akira Shigeta , to spar against Ippo. As Ippo began having trouble against Shigeta, he noticed that he is a southpaw. Ippo continued having difficulty against Shigeta until the three round spar ended. Kamogawa then made Ippo realise a possibility of the title switching hands, with him possibly fighting Shigeta for the title instead.

Ippo returned home and gave Umezawa a bell for repelling bears away and was asked if the story of Takamura defeating a bear was true by Umezawa, which he confirmed before noticing that Nekota reported it. After axing logs at his home, he went to the Kamogawa gym where Takamura was telling reporters the story how he defeated a bear.

Once the reporters left, Fujii stayed and accidentally revealed that Takamura would be fighting in a world ranked match. After Kamogawa explained what Takamura would be doing if everything went through, Ippo became fired up about the gym possibly having it's first world champion and began hitting the sandbag. Outside the hall, Ippo noticed Nekota arguing with an employee trying to let Hachi in. After it was decided that Hachi had to stay outside, Ippo and Nekota entered the hall, with Ippo wondering what was in Nekota's big sack.

Ippo then watched with Nekota as Kimura and Aoki won their matches. When Takamura won the match with only his left, Ippo discovered from Nekota that he went with an old proverb of "He who rules with his left rules the world. With Kamogawa and Nekota passed out from drinking until morning, Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura gone, Ippo became the centre of attention with the other gym members.

When Ippo left the gym, he saw Tomiko and Kumi. Ippo informed Tomiko that Aoki had not returned to the gym, causing her to leave Kumi with Ippo. Ippo then did roadwork while Kumi followed him, During a break, Ippo made a promise to Kumi to be the first female to get an autograph from him. They then split ways so that Kumi could buy a paper and pen for Ippo to sign his autograph.

At the gym, Ippo met Mari, who wanted to see Ippo spar, but when she found out Ippo could not spar, she decided to ask him questions. When asked what match left the biggest impression to him, Ippo answered that it was his match against Date. Ippo was then pressured into signing his autograph for Mari.

When he left the gym, he discovered a " baka " sign outside, not knowing that Kumi put it there due to Ippo breaking his promise. Later, Ippo came back to the gym and saw that Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura had returned. As Nekota began training students during his stay at the gym, Ippo noted how experienced he was to Takamura. Ippo and Takamura then discussed how Takamura's next match may be decided soon, with Ippo realising that Takamura was already preparing for his junior middleweight world match.

Later, Nekota left the gym to go back to his pension, with Ippo giving him his farewells. Before leaving the stadium, Ippo and Kamogawa went to visit Shigeta's room.

As Ippo and Kamogawa left the stadium, Ippo believed Shigeta to be in better condition than he thought, however Kamogawa noted Shigeta's reaction to his trainer's hand coming towards him was a sign of Punch Eye. Ippo asked her to go somewhere with him, which she agreed to. Ippo looked into a dating magazine with dating spot suggestions and decided to go to the Shimono Zoo with Kumi.

After getting a change of clothes, Ippo apologised for thinking about boxing during his date, but Kumi admitted she could not try to stop a boxer to not think about boxing.

Ippo then decided o make up for giving his autograph to another girl besides her by promising that the first autograph he gives as the JBC featherweight champion, will be to her. Later, Ippo went to the Yamaguchi Chiropractic. When Yamaguchi noticed Ippo's back muscles had gotten bigger, Ippo was warned that while he is strengthening his muscles, strengthening his bone is a more complex process, with greater power leading to greater risks of injuring his fist again.

To prevent this, Ippo received a shock absorption rubber to put in his bandages. As instructed by Kamogawa, for five days, Ippo went to different gyms to spar against opponents from different weight classes. Ippo successfully knocked out a junior lightweight, junior featherweight, lightweight, featherweight, and a welterweight. Ippo went back to the Kamogawa gym where Aoki ended Ippo's knockout streak. When Fujii entered the gym, Ippo learned that Mari went to Osaka for research. Ippo then expressed how instead of going into the match thinking of it as a title match, he believed that they are not fighting over a belt.

At his home, Ippo gave a ticket to Umezawa and planned on giving two to Kumi and one to Nekota along with a letter. Ippo was then unable to sleep that night in his room as his heart would not stop racing in anticipation for the fight. Ippo was surprised at the champion's relaxed nature and both boxers were amazed of each other's muscle build as they partake in the weigh-in. After their conversation, they shake hands while making a statement how they will win against each other.

The next day, in Ippo's waiting room, after Kamogawa reminded Ippo that their previous fight was a fight between Rookie Kings, and now it is to box as a challenger against a champion, Ippo left for the ring.

When both fighters entered the ring, they were unable to remain calm. The gong then sounded for the title match. Immediately after the signal to begin the first round was given, Ippo dashed towards the unsuspecting champion and got into his Dempsey Roll motion.

Despite Ippo's block, the right caused Ippo's nose to spurt blood. The two then entered an even in-fight brawl at the centre of the ring until the referee separated them as the round ended.

At the corner, Ippo realised that if he guards too often and not exchange blows, he will lose. The even hitting match at the centre of the ring ended as Ippo began to get pushed back. At the corner, Ippo was instructed to attack instead of defending and to take the initiative. In the third round, Ippo attempted to attack after barely dodging the champion's punches, but he got pressured into blocking instead. After getting hit at the corner, Ippo barely dodged an attack and slipped.

As he falls, he felt as if the match was over until he realised that he had not done everything he could do. The third round then ended. At the corner, while Ippo was in a daze trying to think of what he practised, Hachi barked from the crowd. This caused Ippo to remember his training at the Pension Yoshio for the Sakki. He then got ready to continue the fight with a look of courage and confidence that he will show everyone what he learned. Ippo then began weaving to dodge feints and real punches.

In the corner, after Kamogawa gave Ippo encouragement, he got ready for round five. After Ippo got pushed into a corner and a short exchange occurred, Ippo fell down. Ippo attacked first, however Ippo was hit by a right straight, causing Ippo to go down a second time. In a daze, Ippo did not want to think about getting the belt anymore and believed that closing his eyes and going to sleep would be easier.

Ippo then got back to his senses and got back up, not wanting to repeat what happened when he lost to Date. Ippo was then quickly beaten into a corner.

In the corner, Ippo asked Kamogawa what it means to be strong. During the exchange, Ippo recalled his past, wanting to know what it means to be strong.

He then acknowledged that his answer is right in front of them. Their exchange then ended after the gong sounded ending the sixth round. Both boxers remain standing at their corners with both of them thinking that the next round is the end as they did not have much energy left and plan on using only big punches.

The two step back from the damage. Ippo recovered first and landed a right straight. Ippo received his JBC featherweight belt and raised his arms in joy as he becomes the champion. The camera crew then asked the champion for a pose.

When Ippo posed, Hachi appeared in the ring and posed with him as the picture gets taken. In Ippo's changing room, before Ippo left with his gym mates to take him home, Kamogawa told him "very well done. Two days later, Ippo woke up, and became surprised to see his champion belt next to him and quickly realised that he won. After Umezawa showed him magazines about Ippo's win, he was informed to call Aoki as his gym mates were forming a celebration party.

As Ippo went to the phone, Hiroko congratulated him. Ippo then arrived late to his party at the Sugar Ray. Ippo met Kumi, who congratulated him. Yagi then got Ippo onto the stage with his belt and introduced him to everyone and revealed that it is his 20th birthday. As a present, Nekota gave Ippo a puppy from Hachi. As Ippo held the puppy, he defecates on Ippo's belt. After cleaning the belt, Ippo was requested to sing a song. Ippo chose the "Champion" song, which caused his gym mates to throw things at him for being arrogant, making Ippo feel as if it was the greatest day of his life.

Kamogawa then asked if Ippo found his answer of what it means to be strong, however, Ippo claimed to not have found the answer. After Ippo did roadwork with his puppy which he quickly realised can not keep up with him , Ippo returned to his house where he received a call from Kumi asking to meet up with him. When Ippo met Kumi, he was gifted a jogging suit as a late birthday gift due to her not knowing it was his birthday when she came to his celebration party.

Ippo then gave her his signature as a champion as he promised earlier. Though happy that he remembered, Kumi claimed that she can not see him again. Ippo became heartbroken and confused as Kumi ran away without saying why. Ippo then decided to go to the Kamogawa gym and entered Kamogawa's office where he learned that the annual Champion Carnival was commencing, with two boxers from the gym fighting. Ippo then assumed that this was the reason Kumi made her earlier statement, leaving mixed feelings about the match.

When Kimura left the gym to seek help from someone he claimed would be able to help him, Ippo wondered who it was, which Takamura hinted towards Miyata. At Takamura's house, Ippo mentioned how sparring with Miyata was a good choice, however he believed it was bad luck that Kimura's opponent is Mashiba. Takamura then claimed Ippo was the one with bad luck due to his relationship with Kumi being affected and made him call the Mashiba family's house to make up with Kumi.

The next day, since Takamura told Aoki and Kimura about their conversation, Ippo got teased by Aoki and Takamura while Kimura was angry that Mashiba is looking down on him. When Kimura left for the Kawahara Boxing Gym in order to spar with Miyata, Takamura told Ippo how Aoki is nervous about the situation, as his rival is going for his first title match and wishes to help Kimura, but he does not have the strength to.

Later, Ippo and Kumi met up again at a restaurant. Kumi apologised for what she said to Ippo, as boxing is just a sport and did not want to end their relationship over it. After Kimura and then Mashiba spot Ippo and Kumi together and made a scene, Kumi runs away again and told Ippo they should not see each other for a while. At the Kamogawa gym, per Ippo's request, Mari gave Ippo tapes of Mashiba's spars before his last title defence.

Ippo then gave them to Aoki, as he wanted to deliver them himself. After two and a half weeks of Kimura's absence from the Kamogawa gym, Ippo, Aoki, and Takamura went to the Kawahara gym to observe Kimura's spar against Miyata.

After witnessing Kimura using an in-fighter's way of boxing, Ippo, Takamura, and Aoki discussed how impressive picking up a new fighting style in a short span of time is, however, Takamura believed that Kimura will soon realise something and have a desperate shock while trying to go through with his plan.

At Takamura's home, Takamura told Ippo and Aoki that Kimura has nothing and even if he comes up with an in-fighter strategy, it won't work as Mashiba is experienced in fighting in-fighters.

Ippo and Aoki decided to tell Kimura this, however, they could not bring themselves to interrupt Kimura as they witness Kimura in a park practising by punching on a tire, with Ippo predicting that Kimura is training for a body blow when he gets into Mashiba's left side. After three hours of practising, Kimura left and then a group of people see the tire he was punching and began to mess with it until they were confronted by Aoki.

The group became angry at the two for Aoki's threat if they don't stop messing with Kimura's tire and began attacking Aoki and Ippo, who told Aoki not to fight back as they are pro boxers. After they got beat up, Ippo embarrassed Aoki by noting how close he is to Kimura by stepping in to stop them.

Aoki explained that when they train the same amount, Kimura suffers the most and that when he loses the pain is also worse, but Ippo and Aoki agree that winning must be better, especially a title match. When Kimura had not come to the Kamogawa nor the Kawahara gym, Takamura believed that Kimura ran away cowardly asking Ippo and Aoki for proof that he didn't run away.

Ippo and Aoki went back to Hara Park to see for themselves. There, they noticed that the tire is on the ground with marks on two different spots with one that was not there when they last checked. With the match poster up, Kimura returned to the Kamogawa gym and revealed that he has a new technique called the " Dragonfish Blow ", he sparred with Aoki to show everyone at the gym. When he saw the new technique, Ippo believed that Kimura's overhand could even reach Mashiba's jaw. When the day of Kimura's title match arrived, Ippo and everyone else went into Kimura's room, where Kimura informed everyone that if he loses, he would retire.

With Ippo visibly upset, Kimura vowed to become the champion and be even with him again. Ippo then watched the match where Kimura lost in the ninth round. While reporters were talking to Kimura, Ippo listened as Kimura told them that he has retired. At the Kamogawa gym, Ippo realised that, like him, Aoki and Takamura seemed saddened by Kimura's retirement. He then told the two how his mother named his puppy Wanpo as a pun of his own name.

When Wanpo went outside the gym and barked, Ippo and the others went outside and saw Kimura. Kimura then announced that he would come back by changing his given name from kanji to katakana. After Kobashi won and became the JBC junior featherweight champion, Ippo walked away from the hall with Kumi, who Ippo did not know was sitting next to him the entire time.

Just as Ippo was about to invite Kumi for dinner, he had to stop and catch an an elderly man who was about to fall down a set of stairs.

The elderly man recognised Ippo and Ippo learned the reason the former JBC junior featherweight champion relinquished his belt was to move up to the featherweight class. He then introduced Ippo to the former champion, Kazuki Sanada.

Their friendly conversation was interrupted by the elderly man as they were about to shake hands, as he believed enemies should not shake hands. At the Kamogawa gym, Ippo learned from Kamogawa that the elderly man he met earlier was named Dankichi Hama , a trainer that was supposed to be in Mexico, but went to Japan and took Sanada after watching Sanada's fifth JBC title defence.

Ippo also learned about Dankichi's boxing history when he fought both Kamogawa and Nekota during the prize-fighting days. Dankichi then entered the gym and revealed that Sanada is ranked first, making him Ippo's opponent in the Champion Carnival, and warned his old rival and the champion about the Hien and the Tsubame Gaeshi. Confused as to what the "Hien" is, Ippo tried to get help from his gym mates. Kamogawa revealed it to be correct, and had Ippo spar with Kimura for him to see the Hien himself.

Ippo witnessed Kimura's Hien in the spar, unable to stop the Hien. Ippo then got a more detailed explanation and that it seals the Dempsey Roll. Ippo then wondered what the Tsubame Gaeshi is, which Kamogawa claimed that it is a blow with Sanada's right to defeat Ippo. When Fujii entered the gym, Ippo was asked if felt the pressure of boxers training just to take him off the throne.

Ippo answered that he would enter the ring as the challenger still. When Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura found out that Sanada is a son of a hospital director, they began to wonder if Ippo could lose Kumi and the belt to the doctor boxer. Ippo claimed that Kumi is not his girlfriend so he would not lose Kumi, making the trio try to convince Ippo into calling Kumi to confess his love to her. Ippo decided to go through with it under one condition: he has to get beaten in an arm wrestling match.

When the arm wrestling match began, Ippo easily defeated Kimura and Aoki. Ippo then arm wrestled Takamura, however Ippo lost in the end. Ippo called Kumi and asked her if she would like to do something with him that night. After she agreed, Ippo took her to the Kahuna Pasta House along with a tape recorder as Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura believed that Ippo would try to run away from his promise to them.

After eating, Ippo and Kumi went into a park in the snow. Ippo attempted to confess, however he could not do it, instead telling her about his upcoming match against Sanada.

Ippo then made Kumi upset and run away when he claimed that it was not her duty to cheer for him nor his right to ask her to, instead telling her to cheer for who she wants to cheer for. Ippo then returned the tape recorder to Takamura to let him hear what happen before walking out of the house emotionless.

Ippo continued training against the Hien by pushing the Hien's left with his right and then stepping in until the day of the weigh-in arrived. At the weigh-in, when asked for the champion's comment for the match, Ippo, who forgot he was the champion, wished to learn from the more experienced Sanada and to enter the ring with a challenger's standpoint.

After Sanada reminded Ippo of the two previous holders of the JBC featherweight belt and how he should take more pride on it, the two shook hands. Walking away from the hall, due to Sanada's pectorals being more developed since his last match which are used for inward punches, Ippo and Kamogawa assumed that the Tsubame Gaeshi had something to do with hooks and uppercuts.

When Ippo returns to the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, he was gifted new red boxing trunks with twelve stars for his twelve knock outs and shoes from Umezawa and Hiroko. That night, Ippo thought about how he will never give up the belt that the people he respected so much put on. The next day, when the match was about to begin, Ippo walked into the ring nervously and feeling the pressure of his first title defence, as if it was his debut match. When the match began, Ippo got hit by a right straight that caused him to panic.

Sanada took advantage of the situation and attacked Ippo, forcing him onto the ropes and, Ippo was attacked again until he recovered from Sanada's right. Ippo attempted to get into his rhythm and went towards Sanada, however, he was hit by Sanada, who used his Hien to change his jab into a hook. Ippo continued to have trouble getting close to Sanada due to his Hien, getting hit by the fast hitting technique until the round ended.

When the second round began, Ippo attempted to take the pace by dashing towards Sanada immediately and started his Dempsey Roll motion. The Dempsey Roll motion was stopped by Sanada, who pushed his body onto Ippo's.

Ippo continued to be unable to get close to Sanada because of the Hien. He then got pushed back onto the ropes by Sanada's rapid punches, guarding against them waiting for a moment to strike back. Sanada's rhythm changed, and Ippo guarded against a right uppercut. Ippo then prepared to guard against a second right uppercut, however, the uppercut went through Ippo's stiff Peek-a-Boo style block and hit him.

Realising that the double right uppercut was the Tsubame Gaeshi, Ippo retaliated and hit Sanada's guard with a right that caused damage to Sanada and made him fly back to the other side of the ring. Sanada escaped from Ippo's follow-up attack at the ropes by using his Hien and began hitting Ippo on the ropes with the Hien.

With Ippo on the ropes guarding against the Hien, Sanada launched his Tsubame Gaeshi, with the second hit going through Ippo's guard again, causing Ippo to go down and become unconscious. Ippo, after hearing Kamogawa in his unconsciousness wanting him to come back to him as he knew how to beat the Tsubame Gaeshi, Ippo got up, wanting to go back to Kamogawa. The second round shortly ended after Ippo gets up. In his corner, as Ippo left for the third round, Kamogawa told him to remember what Kobashi Kenta did that gave him trouble in the match.

In the third round, not wanting to let Ippo recover, Sanada rushed towards him and used the Hien. Ippo blocked the Hien and got his guard hit by the first uppercut of the Tsubame Gaeshi.

Ippo then successfully blocked the second sideways uppercut with the Cross-Arm Block , remembering that Kobashi used the Cross-Arm Block against him. With the block, Ippo advanced toward Sanada, guarding his lefts.

After Ippo got into close range after getting hit by Sanada's left and right hooks in the process. Ippo hit Sanada with a liver blow and the two begin an in-fight due to Sanada being unable to escape. Ippo won the in-fight as Sanada went down. After Sanada got up, Ippo was clinched when he got close. When the clinch broke, Ippo began losing balance as Sanada punched his head during the clinch that shook his superior canal in his inner ear.

When Ippo's balance came back, Ippo pushed forward against Sanada's Hien as they began to weaken. Ippo got to Sanada's chest right before the gong sounded, ending the third round. As the fourth round began, Sanada got into an in-fighter's range and got close to Ippo while blocking and dodging punches, delivering body blows at vital points, making Ippo's face blue due to cyanosis. As Ippo began to lose balance from the body blows, Sanada used his Tsubame Gaeshi, but Ippo blocked the second uppercut by putting one of his hands between the attack and his jaw, still causing damage.

As Sanada continued his attack, he noticed Ippo is at his limit and threw a right, making Ippo start to fall. Ippo barely managed to stop his fall by hanging onto the ropes. Ippo's light returned to his eyes and he released a punch that missed as the fourth round ended. Before Ippo headed out for the fifth round, he received a slap on the back by Kamogawa as a request.

Ippo dashed towards Sanada as the fifth round began and relentlessly attacked Sanada. Ippo then prepared to do his last attack as he did the Dempsey Roll motion, however, Sanada pushed his body onto Ippo's, stopping it.

Ippo landed a liver blow as Sanada stepped in as he predicted Sanada would step-in to stop the motion. Ippo then hit Sanada with a Gazelle Punch. Ippo attempted to hit Sanada, who withstood all of Ippo's punches, however, Ippo's right barely grazed Sanada's cheek.

Sanada launched a finishing right, which caused Sanada to fall down from his own momentum and missing Ippo, causing a down. The referee then signalled the end to the match, with Ippo winning his first title defence. With the help of his seconds, Ippo walked away from the ring and went to his changing room in the hall, immediately sleeping while tightly holding his belt. Two days later, Ippo became bored as he fished with Wanpo until Kumi approached him. Kumi congratulated Ippo on his victory and explained that she came to watch the match and was alone in the crowd, cheering for Ippo.

When Ippo returned to the gym, he learned that Takamura is training for his world contender match and Kimura is sparring with Miyata for his OPBF featherweight title match against Arnie Gregory. Sakaguchi , and how Gregory's destructive power is comparable to Ippo's, the gym mates believed Miyata has a chance to lose, leading Ippo to rebuke them for talking in a way that may give Miyata bad luck. Ippo realised that the gap between them is more than filled. Ippo then learned from Kamogawa that Ricardo requested to spar with him.

After Ippo agreed to the spar, Ippo discussed it with Umezawa, who compared Ippo's 13 win record to Ricardo's 63 win record and claimed that Ricardo was only five times stronger than Ippo and that Ippo would be able to land one hit out of five punches.

Ippo then went with Kamogawa to the Otowa gym with the expectation of landing at least one punch within the three rounds. When Ippo arrived to the Otowa gym, he met Ricardo and felt the pressure of the super champion after going into the ring with his match boxing trunks, wanting to treat the spar as an actual match. As the spar began, Ippo attempted to use a feint and a liver blow, however, he stopped midway as Ricardo saw through the tactic. Ippo entered his Peek-a-Boo Style and threw a one-two, which Ricardo easily dodged the first hit and threw a jab that Ippo couldn't see coming.

After repeatedly getting hit with Ricardo's motionless lefts, Ippo managed to get close to Ricardo by blocking some of his punches. In range, Ippo began the Dempsey Roll motion. Before Ippo could even start to throw a punch, he was effortlessly hit repeatedly by Ricardo's lefts until the figure-eight motion stopped and left Ippo standing unconscious and frozen in shock.

Noticing Ippo was unconscious, Ricardo walked away and stopped the spar. Kamogawa got Ippo, still unconscious, out of the ring and the two leave the Otowa gym with Ippo realising that the gap between him and the world was huge. Back at his home, Ippo looked into a mirror his face and was shocked on how swollen it looked after Ricardo only used his left. When Ippo returned to the gym, he got immediately kicked out by Takamura, who told him to go see Date and apologise for his performance in the spar.

When Ippo arrived outside the Nakadai gym, he looked through the window and discovered that Date was sparring with Miyata. Ippo watched the spar and was shocked to see Miyata easily beaten. Miyata walked outside and was embarrassed that the spar was seen by someone. The two then realised even though one is a Japanese champion and the other is an OPBF champion, they were still so far away and that the world is a big place.

After watching the press conference between Date and Ricardo, Ippo received a call from Takamura to go with him for roadwork.

Ippo went with Takamura to a park so that they could meet Date. When they met Date, they joined him in his roadwork to discuss the press conference and his upcoming match against Ricardo.

After the semifinals which ended in Okita 's victory, Ippo was approached by Fujii and was informed that Date wanted to see him in his changing room. Outside the changing room, Ippo met his wife and son , telling the latter that Date would become the world champion as he was beaten once by Date. When Ippo saw Date, Date told him that he would be waiting at the top of the world and for Ippo to not take too long.

Ippo then wished for Date to win and become his eternal rival. Ippo proceeded to watch the match between Date and Ricardo, which ended in Date losing and Ricardo's 18th title defence win. Ippo was emotional about Date's loss which sent him to the hospital, and at the Kamogawa gym, told Takamura and the others to not mention Date's possibility of retirement.

Fujii entered the gym and revealed that Date was awake with no brain damage and that he is able to speak in short durations. Takamura advised for Ippo to go see him, claiming that there was a meaning to it. Date placed his hand onto Ippo's as a baton pass. Ippo apologised as he explained that he could not, as Ricardo was too strong, not being able to as he is now. Ippo revealed to Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura what happened in the hospital with him and Date.

As Ippo's second JBC featherweight title match against Hammer Nao was approaching, Manabu Itagaki , who recently joined the gym because he looks up to Ippo as a senpai, appeared in the Kamogawa gym. In order for the newcomer to feel the pain of being a pro, Ippo, along with the others at the gym had Itagaki do roadwork with them. From the moment he became fascinated with the idea of what it would be like to be strong, Ippo delved into the world of professional boxing , where he has continued to amass more power and dominate almost every challenge that stands in his way.

In the 1, chapters of Hajime No Ippo , that drive to leave behind the shy, timid boy he once was — who used to get beaten up by bullies — has helped him win 21 of 24 matches, nab three titles, and take on the world in his Featherweight class.

What makes Ippo such a remarkable character is how much his will to win propels him to achieve the impossible. Somehow, the boy gains more strength each time he gets knocked down, and the more severely he is physically bested, the more he fights back regardless of his injuries, usually by dealing more damage to his opponent. As such, he has become known for his "reverse KO," where every time he's knocked out and it looks like he could never claw his way back to the top, he summons enough spirit in the following round to return the favor.

The fight that probably best exemplifies this phenomenon is his match against one of the series' most powerful fighters , Date Eiji, and his first loss, when competing for the JBC Featherweight Title Match. Near the end, Ippo is so driven that he essentially fights unconsciously, and yet, he is somehow able to not only throw powerful punches while in a clinch — a defensive tactic that makes such efforts essentially impossible — but does so while his legs have already given out.

Essentially, Date's body is the only thing keeping Ippo on his feet. When he was young, Ippo was constantly bullied by bullies in his school, one afternoon back home a trio of bullies intimidate him and begin to beat him at that moment fate wanted him to meet Takamura, a famous boxer, with an outgoing personality.

Takamura saw something in Ippo and introduced him to the world of boxing. Immediately after arriving at the Kamogawa Gymnasium, Takamura and Kamogawa are impressed with their explosive punching power and the spirit in the ring of never giving up. Like he has with Takamura, Kamogawa personally takes on Ippo as his student and begins with him the path to becoming a professional boxer.

Since then, Takamura treats Ippo like a younger brother and has taken him under his wing. Ippo's measurements are: cm 5'4 " tall, reach of cm 5 ' and weighs pounds 57 kg , his natural talents include endurance, balance and power in his strokes for traced boxing match, combined with his excellent fighting spirit, all this combined have allowed him to overcome technical deficiencies.

His Dempsey Roll and destructive technique has been a particular focus throughout the story and has continued to evolve throughout the series.

During his second fight with Takeshi Sendo, Ippo showed the perfect form of Dempsey Rollex, the Dempsey Rollex cannot be used if the opponent does not retreat, Ippo combines three of his techniques: First the liver hook "liver blow", which fractures the ribs Right Sendo, Ippo then uses a feint with "Sakki" bloodlust or killer instinct , causing Sendo to tighten his guard.

Ippo then follows up with the Gazelle's "Gazelle Punch" fist an uppercut with the strength of the legs for the added power , which causes the opening in Sendo's guard. Taking advantage of the Sendo opportunity he was surprised, Ippo then used Dempsey Rollex which hit Sendo a few times before knocking him out.